New Birmingham Water Works Board rules shorten the time customers can actually talk in public to leaders of the state’s largest water utility.

The water works Wednesday unanimously adopted a new public comment policy that cuts individual speaking time down from three minutes to two.

The policy also narrows the time customers can sign up to address the board. Written requests must now be submitted within 24 hours after meeting agendas are made public.

Activists, former board members and a Jefferson County commissioner have already condemned the changes as too restrictive and disrespectful to the people that the agency was created to serve.

“That’s the public’s water works. We pay them,” Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson told AL.com. “So, who the hell do they think they are to change the policy where the public, who pays their bills, can’t complain? That’s the only place I know that gets money from constituents who don’t have a right to speak.”

Water Works officials said they imposed the new rules in response to abuse of the previous system.

“When it was established, the purpose of allowing public comments during board meetings was to provide our customers an opportunity to share service-related issues so our staff could assist them,” the water works said in a written statement to AL.com. “Unfortunately, this time has more recently been misused by individuals with other agendas, and the speakers’ time is no longer serving its intended purpose.”

The statement went on to say the public comment period is rarely the vehicle to solve customer service issues.

The policy comes just weeks after a dramatic exchange where William Muhammad, an activist and former water works board member, criticized the selection process of returning general manager Mac Underwood.

Muhammad in February said the board made the major decision without transparency and accused some board members of unlawfully serving on the board.

When Muhammad alleged someone on the board was corrupt – without naming anyone – Board Chairwoman Tereshia Huffman ordered security guards to remove him from the room.

The guards physically escorted Muhammad out when he refused to stop talking before his time – which was three minutes – was up.

“The speaker’s policy is not democratic because it is based on the interpretation of the chair. I followed the rules that she had, and when she didn’t like what I was saying, then she had me accosted,” he said. “She had me physically accosted and embarrassed and drug out the meeting.”

Muhammad said the previous policy was not applied fairly and he has the same amount of skepticism regarding the new rules for speakers.

“We’re going to bring the community down and challenge that,” he said.

The water works in 2022 became a hotbed of public ire for its billing problems such as multiple billings and overestimated meter charges.

Critics at the time, including Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, took to social media to lambast the board’s leadership.

Utility leaders then said they wanted to better engage the public, improve communication and customer service.

Woodfin earlier this year appointed two members to the board, Dr. Andre McShan and Monique Gardner Witherspoon. No member of the board commented before the vote to toughen the speaker’s policy.

George Munchus, another former longtime board member, also panned the board’s action. Munchus, who just left the board this year, called the new policy another attempt to muzzle the public and smear the lens of transparency.

“This is an attempt to regulate speech and behavior of us citizens,” he said.

Munchus remains in a legal wrangle with his former colleagues on the board over its restrictive policies. He was party to two lawsuits against Huffman and the board accusing them of withholding public information from him and punishing him for refusing to sign what he called a “loyalty pledge.”

Munchus said he was denied the board’s monthly stipend for more than a year because he refused to sign the board’s self-governance policy.

Although Munchus said he supported some items in the policy, such as ongoing ethics training, he objects to portions that limit the public’s right to know, and what he said are aspects of the policy designed to mute board members.

A Jefferson County judge dismissed that case, which is now on appeal to the state supreme court.

Meanwhile, another Munchus lawsuit remains unresolved in circuit court. Munchus alleges that the board refuses to disclose detailed information regarding the utility’s attorney’s fees.

The Birmingham Water Works serves about 770,000 customers in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties.